“ Aawaz laga do yaar ” a man holding an AAP flag told a group of men wearing party caps as a black SUV rolled into a lane in Giri Nagar. “Raghav Chadha zindabad ...” the slogans came to life as AAP’s South Delhi candidate stepped out of the car.
Mr. Chadha is the poorest among the AAP, BJP, and Congress candidates in Delhi, according to affidavits submitted by the candidates to the Election Commission.
Mr. Chadha sporting a white kurta-pyjama and a black Nehru jacket was soon dressed with about half a dozen garlands of marigold, before he began his ‘padayatra’ accompanied by about 50 supporters and two men blasting away on their dhols .
AAP workers’ mom
Within minutes, Mr. Chadha’s entourage entered Giri Nagar JJ Cluster and his supporters called out women from many houses, but Mr. Chadha went straight to the house of 62-year-old Geeta Devi.
As the AAP candidate started talking to Ms. Devi, clad in a maroon sari, his supporters started shouting “ Vaapas chalo, rasta nehi hai [Go back, there is no road here] ”. Mr. Chadha smiled, talked to her for a couple of seconds with folded hands and left the area and cameras of TV channels, anchors and photographers, followed.
“My nephew Montu works for him full time. Earlier he used to work at an office in Okhla for ₹9,000, but now he has left it,” Devi said. Pointing towards a manhole, next to the house, she said, “The sewer gets full and dirty water gets into our house.”
But Ms. Devi said Mr. Chadha did not ask her about her problems. “He asked me, ‘You will support me, right, Mata ji ?’ and I said yes. After that he left,” Ms. Devi said.
Around 11.40 a.m., he left the JJ cluster and actress Swara Bhaskar, who was to join him, arrived and the duo posed for photos and interviews.
The first house the duo went to, accompanied by the supporters, was of 44-year-old Phul Kumari, who garlanded them. “We don’t want goondas . They [AAP] have done work in education and health. Vote for jhadu ,” Ms. Bhaskar said as the crowd moved on with their padayatra.
Kumari’s son Vineeth said he is a party volunteer. “I go to help whenever there is a function [of the AAP],” he said.
The Modi fan
The cameras were focussed on Mr. Chadha and Ms. Bhaskar as they gave interviews and kept moving as one big swarm.
Between this, not everyone noticed Nisha Kapoor, 40, when she garlanded Mr. Chadha and walked out of the group without stopping, at Subhash Khand in Giri Nagar around 12.05 p.m. “ Modi achha kaam kiya hai . I’ll vote for Modi,” Ms. Kapoor, sporting an yellow salwar, said, as she walked hurriedly to cross the main road. “My mother was asking me to do it. I was not interested,” Ms. Kapoor said when asked why she garlanded the AAP candidate.
Hearing-impaired voter
Around 12.30 p.m., Ms. Bhaskar stopped outside a shop selling motors in Govindpuri and with folded hands asked Charan Singh, 90, sporting a blue turban and twirled white moustache, to vote for ‘ jhadu ’.
When The Hindu asked Mr. Singh what Ms. Bhaskar had told him, he shook he hands. “He can’t hear properly, he is too old. I was also standing behind him inside the shop and I could not hear properly what she said,” Mr. Singh’s 38-year-old grandson said. Mr. Chadha’s group, Ms. Bhaskar, her bodyguard, anchors and photographers, continued with the padayatra amid sloganeering and dhol beats.
